The Lost Returns
by AccidentallyInLove
Summary: Someone missing for ten years returns to Tracy Island and falls in love, whilst helping the Thunderbirds to control an underground organisation threatening to destroy them.
1. Prologue 10 Years Ago

**_Disclaimer _**- _I do not own, and have never owned Thunderbirds or any other film/tv show that might be mentioned - they're owned by Gerry Anderson and whichever TV company - Carlton Media International I think… Anyway, I don't own them, I just like to borrow them from time to time to entertain myself.  
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**_Author's Note_** _- Okay here goes, I have a lot to say so bear with me! Firstly, I am not a brilliant writer, I know that but please don't pull me down on any little mistakes I make. But feel free to give constructive criticism when needed, and if you see any blaringly obvious plot holes etc, than please point them out! Just be nice, please?   
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_Secondly, I'm just a bored teenager with nothing else to do, which is why I'm writing this. I probably won't get past a couple of chapters, but I might do, you never know. Anyways, I used to watch Thunderbirds when I was a little kid and have renewed my interest in it after watching the end of one episode and seeing the hype for the film. Admittedly the film looks nothing like the TV show, and has probably ruined it but oh well - it looks fun nevertheless. So I'm afraid that my info on the Thunderbirds and the Tracy's may be a little out, but I have been using both the TV show website, and the film website for details. Both have different info so some of the ages/dates might not be right, but could you just pretend they are for the sake of it? Lol thanks! Oh and the title isn't very good, but I'm useless at thinking them up… I may change it, any suggestions are welcome!  
  
Finally, the main character isn't a canon character, which you may or may not like. But hopefully you do - just thought I'd warn you before hand!_  
  
_Enjoy the story! And don't forget to review!_

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**The Lost Returns**  
  
_**Prologue - 10 Years Ago  
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Darkness covered Tracy Island, the stars shining brightly in the clear sky and the moon sending its reflection across the water. The five Tracy's slept safely in their beds, whilst John kept an ever vigil watch miles above them in Thunderbird 5. The island was still, the silence comforting and only broken by the occasional animal and the ticking of the clocks. Tracy Island had never seen such a beautiful night, the sea lapping quietly over the sand with not a cloud in the sky, but no-one was around to see it.  
  
In his bedroom, Jeff Tracy had just fallen into an uneasy sleep when the telephone in the other room began to ring. Groaning, Jeff rolled over onto his stomach and pulled a pillow down over his head, trying to drown out the shrill noise. But the telephone kept on ringing, waking the rest of the family up too and echoing in the deserted rooms.  
  
"Great, what now?" Jeff muttered, reluctantly throwing the covers off and getting to his feet. Pausing to look at his dishevelled appearance in the mirror, he sighed and headed to the telephone, which typically stopped ringing the moment he got near it. Suppressing the anger that was about to appear, Jeff turned and started to head back to bed when the phone rang again. Feeling tempted to just let it keep on ringing, he sighed again and picked up the receiver.  
  
"Hello?" He asked sharply, glancing at the clock at the wall. Three o'clock, who would ring at this time? he thought, frowning. He could hear someone crying on the other end of the line, and faint screaming in the background.  
  
"Hello?" He repeated, the annoyance in his voice evaporating and being replaced by concern. The person on the other end was still crying and it was only then that Jeff realised who it was.  
  
"Ellie? Ellie sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked, relaxing a little when he recognised her ten year old sniffling.  
  
There was a loud sniff and then;  
  
"…Uncle Jeff? Uncle Jeff! You have to come over right now!" The young girl exclaimed, barely recognisable through her sobs.  
  
"Why? What's wrong?" Jeff frowned, wondering what on earth could have set Ellie off at this time in the morning.  
  
There was a long pause, broken by a scream in the background before Ellie whispered, "I think they're hurting mum and dad!"  
  
"Who is?" Jeff replied, walking with the phone into his bedroom and began pulling out some clothes, realising the seriousness of the situation.  
  
"Some men." Ellie stated, her voice rising by the second. "They're hurting them! Please you have to come! Before they -" She broke off, uttering a soft whimper before the line went dead.  
  
"Ellie? Ellie!" Jeff shouted at the dial tone, throwing the phone down in frustration and pulling on the clothes he'd managed to dig out. Casting an anxious look at the phone, he ran in to the other room, not surprised to see his four sons seated at the table. They stood up when he appeared, fear written over their faces after being woken up by their father's conversation. He paused, contemplating what to tell them.   
  
"I have to go over to Xander's house immediately. I don't know what's happened but Ellie's hysterical." He stated, deciding it was better to tell them at least part of the truth. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I want you all to return to bed, there's no point staying up worrying." He finished, pulling on his jacket and started to walk towards the door when Scott grabbed his arm.  
  
"But -" Scott started, his face anxious and concerned for both his father and Ellie.  
  
"Don't Scott, please." Jeff replied, pulling his arm free and looking pleadingly into his son's eyes. "Do what I say for once."  
  
Jeff gave all of his sons one last look before rushing out, leaving them all in a state of anxiety. They all looked at each other, an unspoken agreement passed between them and none of them returned to bed, all preferring to wait up and worry rather than return to bed unconcerned.  
  
Half an hour later, Jeff Tracy arrived at a large house in the middle of the countryside, isolated from civilisation with no neighbours for at least a mile in each direction. He could hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance, knowing they would never get there in time. His jaw had dropped open at the sight of the once beautiful house, which was now being engulfed by flames licking eagerly at the windows and doors and sending dark clouds of smoke billowing into the air. The vines and flowers that had once covered the brick walls were now charred and the front room looked like a fireball, far from it's finely decorated existence before. Jeff paused for a second, paralysed at the sight of the flames creeping slowly towards the roof, before forcing his eyes away and jumping into action.  
  
He ran up to the house, calling Ellie's name and looking desperately in the windows. Spotting an arm through in the living room, he smashed the door open and immediately shrank back, the immense heat pushing him away. Screwing up his eyes and putting his arm over his mouth, he ventured into the living room and picked up the unconscious body of a young girl and then made his way out, ignoring the flames that were jumping up at him.  
  
Running across the lawn, he dropped to his knees and lay Ellie on the floor, looking horrified at what he was seeing. She was still alive, but barely. Her face was covered in blood from a head wound, and her clothes were ripped revealing lots of deep, bloody cuts. Her left arm was stuck out at an odd angle, and looked bruised even in the dark. Careful not to hurt her, Jeff checked her pulse and was confident she was breathing before standing up and starting towards the house again. He gained about 10 yards before a huge explosion sent him flying back off his feet and landing painfully on the ground.   
  
Sitting up, Jeff watched in horror as the whole house was now completely ablaze and overwhelmed by the fire. In shock, he crawled over to Ellie and held her in his arms, checking she was still breathing. As he did so, her eyes flickered open and took in the sight of her house, tears starting to fall down her bloody cheeks. Noticing her crying, Jeff pulled her even closer, trying to comfort her but failing.   
  
She began to scream "Mummy!" over and over, and all Jeff could do was hold her, waiting for the sirens to reach them and put out the fire. As he sat there, he became hypnotised by the dancing flames and was convinced he heard screaming within the house and a shape moving in the smoke and fire.


	2. Back To The Present

_**AN -** Yup, another authors note. This should be cleared up in this chapter anyway, but just incase - Jeff Tracy isn't actually Ellie's Uncle. I used to call my dad's friends uncle when i was little so that's where i got it from... dont' worry, there aren't any unknown Tracy brothers you should know about! Oh and the year in my story is 2063, not 2065 - just for my convenience really for the ages!_

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**_Back To The Present_**  
  
Jeff Tracy awoke with a start, his heart beating rapidly as he remembered the events of that night from ten years ago, a nightmare that had once haunted him for eight timeless years. The fire engines hadn't reached the house in time, and when they did get there, there wasn't much left of it. Jeff had refused to let go of Ellie, but finally conceded when someone pointed out she needed emergency medical attention. He can remember watching them take her away, bundling her into the ambulance and driving off without so much as a look back. Jeff let out a small silent sob at this memory, remembering this was the last time he ever saw Ellie, believing her to be dead. When the firefighters had finally got the blaze under control, there was nothing at all left of the once beautiful country retreat. They were able to recognise two charred bodies, which were later identified as Xander and Charlotte Hartley, Ellie's parents. The postmortem raised thousands of questions which still remain unanswered, but not due to lack of trying The coroner concluded that both Hartley's were murdered with some kind of sharp instrument believed to be a butchers knife or even an axe. After arriving at the hospital, Eleanor Hartley disappeared without a trace, hospital workers refused to comment and many, including Jeff himself, believed her to be dead. The hospital even encouraged these rumours to move the blame away from themselves it was revealed later on.   
  
Jeff Tracy and his sons had attended the funeral of Xander and Charlotte Hartley, watching silently as they lowered the coffins into the grave. Jeff was wracked with guilt and anger, wanting to find the people who had brutally murdered his best friends. His anger finally boiled over when, three days later, he found out that Ellie hadn't died after all and had instead been taken without consent by an unknown group of people. He was furious with the hospital, even considering suing them. Instead, he devoted as much time and effort into finding his best friend's daughter, aiming to bring her to Tracy Island to live with him and his sons.  
  
As he reflected back on this, Jeff sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He'd tried to find Ellie for eight long years, but it was as though she'd disappeared without a trace. Sometimes he thought he'd found her, but it turned out to be yet another false alarm. Exhausted from the searching and sick of neglecting his own children, Jeff gave up the search for Ellie two years ago, hoping her to be happy wherever she was. He had failed his best friend, or at least he thought he had until this morning.  
  
The morning had begun like normal, except John had returned from Thunderbird 5 for the day and was now going over some of the accounts for Jeff. John had sat there for around half an hour, pouring over the accounts with precision before Jeff realised something was wrong. An confused look had spread over his son's face, clicking away before finally telling him something was wrong. John had pointed out that International Rescue had been received a large donation of money each month, something none of the Tracy's knew anything about. Usually John wouldn't have bothered with this, but it was the name under the donations he was concerned with, and told Jeff just that. Looking at the screen, Jeff had read the last line;  
  
_Donation: £2,500  
  
Name: E. Hartley_  
  
When he'd read this, Jeff's heart had skipped a beat and he'd had to re-read it just to make sure he was seeing it correctly. Ignoring the curious glances thrown at him by his sons, Jeff had ordered John to try and trace where the donation had come from exactly, and then find the donater. John had started this without a question why, which Jeff had deeply appreciated. All of his sons knew little about Ellie, but they knew enough and Jeff had never found the time to tell them everything.  
  
I'll have to today though, he thought, frowning. They deserve to know what happened that night, all they know is that her parents are dead and she disappeared. He sighed and got out of bed, checking his reflection in the mirror as he had done ten years ago. Seeing that name on the screen had awoken something in Jeff that had lay dormant since he gave up his search, but it had also awoken the nightmares about that fateful night which he had been so grateful to get rid of.   
  
Walking into the living room, he squinted in the morning sunlight and started to fix himself some breakfast. Half an hour later the rest of the Tracy's had appeared and settled themselves down at the table, chattering and laughing. Glancing at the computer next to him, Jeff noticed it was still searching for E. Hartley and he prayed to himself that it was her, not Edward or Ella Hartley who had turned up in his many searches in the past ten years.  
  
Three days later, Jeff was disturbed by a loud and urgent knocking on his door. Groaning, he stood up and made his way over to the door. It slid open and John was stood in the doorway, looking very anxious and happy at the same time.  
  
"Dad you have to see this!" He exclaimed, running over to the computer and printing out sheets of paper.  
  
Jeff followed reluctantly, feeling that deep down whatever the search had turned up would be a false alarm like all of the other times. He leant over the screen, glancing at the screen and then back at his son.  
  
"She's put some money in again, a lot of money!" John said in excitement, hoping for once that something would turn out right for his dad.  
  
Jeff looked back at the screen and read the latest entry;  
  
_ Donation: £500,750  
  
Name: E. Hartley_  
  
Jeff frowned and looked at his son. "There must be some mistake, she'd never donate that amount of money..." He trailed off and his eyes wandered to the stack of printouts next to John. Flicking through them, a small smile appeared on his face for a second before being replaced by a serious frown.   
  
"What's wrong?" John asked, sensing his father's worry. "This is her, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, but i know something's wrong with her." Jeff replied, bowing his head and trying to think. "She'd never donate that much money, it must be everything she has! Unless she wouldn't need it anymore..." He realised what she could be doing, and ran into his bedroom, pulling on his clothes as he had done ten years ago.  
  
John latched onto his father's trail of thoughts and ran to wake up his brothers. When he was sure they were up, he ran back to the computer and began to search for something, occasionally glancing at the printouts lying next to him.  
  
"What're you doing?" Jeff asked curiously as he returned from his bedroom. "I need you to find out exactly where -"  
  
"I'm already on it," John interrupted, typing amazingly fast to find Ellie's exact location. "Just... gimme...a....min." He said, referring to the papers again before leaning back in his seat and smiling. "She's on the Millenium Bridge in London, looks like she's broken down or something... She isn't going anywhere."  
  
Jeff nodded, and turned to face his other sons. "Alan stay here with John and tell me if anything changes. If she moves, let me know." He nodded, sitting himself at the table as Jeff turned to the others. "Gordon, Virgil you're with me in Thunderbird 2 as we may need Thunderbird 4 as well. Scott, follow with Thunderbird 1. We need to get there fast, so get dressed quickly."  
  
They nodded too and headed off to their rooms to get dressed as quickly as possible. Jeff sank into an empty chair, hoping that Ellie wouldn't do anything stupid and that they got there in time. He couldn't afford to let her go this time, not after ten years.


End file.
